Jun 26
Bringing Pets To Panama
I get many requests about the requirements for bringing pets to Panama. My experience is 5 years old and out of date.
“Living in Potrerillos” has a current article addressing that subject.
I will add a couple thoughts that I didn’t see in the article.
- Don’t plan on bringing a pet with you, when you visit Panama to see if you want to live here. This is a stressful ordeal for animals and should be done, in my opinion, only after you know that this is going to be your permanent home.
- Insure that during your flight time, that there are no embargo in place for carrying animals. If there are, you will not be able to have them loaded on the plane. Certain times of the year, airlines have these embargoes, and with the 10 day window that you have to accomplish the trip, it can get tricky.
I know that pets are family and this is an important question. Thanks go out to Joyce for this timely post.
21 responses so far Pets
Hi, Don–
I realized that I had left out information about the blackout times and added that to the original post. Thanks for the addition about don’t bring your pet with you on a visit! I did not make a new friend a few years ago when someone asked me about doing that because after all, she and her husband always took their dog with them when they went on trips (in the US). She had no clue whatsoever about what was involved.
Hi Joyce. I thought your writeup was great. Especially since it gave me something to reference.
Hi DR – good info to have. Another point to be made regarding bringing pets during a ‘recon’ trip to Panama is the lack of pet friendly hotel accommodations. Forgot to check your hotel section, DR – have you heard of any in David or PC?
Also, curious about bring pets into the cabin of the aircraft – does anyone know of any regulations requiring the airline to disclose the animal’s presence to surrounding – and possibly allergic – passengers?
Sign me Curious
Hi DSD, The last I heard none of the hotels are wanting pets. I don’t know if they can be convinced or if it is a hard policy. I don’t know about the current airline regulations.
Glad to see you are still around. I am missing your shopping tips.
Well, with the price of diesell as high as it is, my shopping trips are fewer and farther between… am trying to convince the guys at the gas station that our car is a very, very small bus and qualifies for the exonerated diesel. Wish me luck!
And for that very reason your shopping tips are very important. It will make everyone’s shopping trips more efficient.
Don,
Just made the following post on Joyce’s blog. Thought it might be of interest here.
——————-
We just arrived yesterday (6/26) with our Australian Shepherd. Because we elected to “charter” a plane for the trip I cannot provide any information about airline related issues.
But … with respect to paperwork and the actual arrival process at Tocumen I can offer the following.
IMPORTANT – Following applies to U.S. residents only.
Paperwork – no problem. We used FedEx (from a location more remote than most, St. Croix, USVI) to/from the Panama Consulate in Washington. You MUST prepay the return. Have your vet complete APHIS Form 7001 along with a rabies certificate (your vet should have these forms available) THEN take/send the completed forms to a USDA vet (your vet should be able to tell you where the nearest USDA vet is located). The USDA vet needs to endorse (stamp) these two forms. THEN, send the two forms plus a USPS money order for $30 to the nearest Panama Consulate (you do NOT need the forms notarized using this procedure) for authentication. Use FedEx (don’t forget to enclose a prepaid return FedEx envelope). It’s important to phone the nearest (physically) Consulate to confirm they actually will process your papers – they may refer you to another Consulate. Using this procedure (and avoiding the notarization hassle) we received our authenticated documents back from the Panama Consulate in six days.
With respect to our arrival at Tocumen. We used Jose Saenz bocasfrog@yahoo.com (website http://www.goldenfrog.net/)and had absolutely no problem. You could do this on your own but most of us don’t need the extra hassle and surprises – highly recommended. The Panamanian vets, along with Customs and Immigration officials where all very helpful/professional. We actually attracted a crowd because of “Wags” breed and unusual coloring.
If any of the above is confusing feel free to email stxsteve @ islandmail.us (just leave out those spaces).
Good luck with your move.
Hi Steve. Thanks for adding that information.
Hi Don;
Have been reading your blog for some time and appreciate all the time and effort you take. Thank you.
We are bringing four cockatoos down and it is quite a production as they are endangered and protected under the international treaty CITES. Whew, what a lot of work (permission required both to export and import birds plus proof they were domestically bred in addition to other usual Panamanian documentation) but we have been given invaluable advice and help from Paul at Paradise Gardens (can’t speak highly enough of him) and Susan in Bocas kindly sent a highly informative email to me. We will enlist Jose Saanez on the Panamanian end. If anyone else has experience in bringing birds to Panama, we sure would appreciate any words of wisdom.
Hi Sam. Thanks for passing that information on. I need to get up to Paradise Gardens one of these days and take some photos. Seems like every time I go to Boquete, it is for a specific reason. I need to make Paradise Gardens a specific reason some day.
Good luck on bringing your birds. I have never tried to bring birds and I understand that they are more difficult.
Sam,
You may want to contact Earle or Les at Anton Valley Hotel in El Valle. They brought their cockatoo (Coconut) from the US to Panama last year. See http://antonvalleyhotel.com for their contact information. BTW, we have stayed there & it is a very nice boutique hotel.
Rob
Hi Don,
Re: Pets, a couple, few things.
First – Thanks to all who passed on information. We will be bringing in our two cats, and this is by far the most stressful in terms of the move, as they have no say, and will be dragged along, temporarily traumatized, etc. If anything happened to them because of our lack of preparedness, we’d both never forgive ourselves.
Second. Will need to check if this applies to pets, but for our “human” documents and apostiles, here in Oregon, (and, I believe this applies across the board in the U.S.), we were able to go down to our State Capital, to the Attorney General’s Office, to have all documents officially stamped, apostiled, etc., rather than, (in our case), fly down to, or send documents to San Francisco, where the closest Panamanian Embassy is. Again, haven’t thoroughly checked on this lately, re: applying to pets, as we’re not at a close enough point yet to move forward with the pet portion of the move. Will let you (all) know if I do get verification on this, if anyone’s interested. Definitely made things much easier for us humans.
Third – Does anyone have any info. on booking on a freighter, rather than flying, including bringing pets on board? I found one site that is a conduit to traveling via freighter, or other non-cruise ship, options. Can check and see if it’s bookmarked in my Favorites, or hunt it down again, if anyone’s interested. There’s a charge to sign up for the service conduit site, so again have not yet pursued.
And, #4. Don, you’ve absolutely got to get yourself to Paradise Gardens. What wonderful people! I believe they brought in (at minimum) 18 parrots of various species – from England. They said that they avoided the U.S., as they were concerned about U.S. regulations. They also shipped about 10,000 lbs. of stone, as well. I kid you not. He is a master stone mason. He’s erected a fabulous fountain/sculpture in Paradise Gardens, using Irish stone. Magnificent. And, if you’ve never been up close and personal with a Howler monkey, Oh My! Their little girl Howler is amazing. Believe she will be released back into the wild when she’s old enough. Also, think they’ve got their website up now. Was still under construction last time I checked, about two months ago.
OK. Thanks for, and to, all. Will also check in with the Link provided on your post. I’ve read it, but need to post questions/comments there, as well.
Happy 4th! ******! Best, Charloe
I also used the Texas State Offices instead of any Panamanian Embassy. Every time I talked to the Panamanian Embassy, I never got good information. I wiill get up to Paradise Gardens one of these days.
Dear Steve, We are about to do our second winter trip from Toronto to our house in Santa Clara, Cocle (near The Decameron resort) We flew our two large dogs (12 year old Black Lab and 1 year old Goldendoodle) down last December – horrible trip – delayed twelve hours, had to overnight at both airports) Please advise people they must arrive between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in order to be processed by the vet – otherwise they must leave their pets overnight at the airport. We did Air Transat last time – are considering driving to Florida and flying from Ft. Lauderdale – anyone done that with pets? Rob
Hi Rob. Thanks for dropping in and taking the time to leave the comment and the extra information.
..hmmm…perhaps we are too trusting but we are bringing four pets (birds so more complicated than dogs) down this year and Jose Saenz says he has arranged for the vet to be there after hours; of course we have to pay extra but we are happy to do so to lessen the stress on the animals. So is it an issue of the vet is not available or an extra charge? Or maybe that people don’t know they can pay for the vet to stay longer?
Sam
Hi
I sent this info to a client, after I found in a different forum, very helpful,
Answer
Hola Tony:
I understand you need to have a valid & recent health certificate. Usually people who fly with their pets have no problems with customs here. Maybe you can contact Copa Airlines to inquire about regulations to bring pets into Panama. Call 1 800 FLY COPA.
I don’t know if you’ll have problems crossing other Central American countries with your dog. You might want to look into that.
Regards,
Jack
Subject: Re: Bringing your Pet to Panama
I brought in my dog. Here is how it MUST be done (without regard to whether or not it seems “inconvenient” to you):
A licensed vet must fill out a state health certificate (every state has one) indicating the dog has:
1) Had a complete check up and is disease free. This must be dated to show the check up occurred within 10 days of the dogs arrival in Panama.
2) Had a Rabies vaccination. This must be dated to show the vaccination occurred more than 30 days, but less than 180 days prior to the dog’s arrival in Panama.
This completed health certificate must be taken to a Panamanian Embassy or Consulate in the States where it will be authenticated and stamped accordingly. Costs $30. You will then bring the Certificate along with yourself and the dog to Panama.
The vet at the airport (I assume you’re flying) will take the Certificate from you and issue new papers allowing your dog to remain with you on “In House” quarantine for 40 days. Costs $130. If you have no authenticated certificate the dog must be held at the airport in quarantine for 40 days at $10/day.
BE AWARE OF SOMETHING: The vet at the airport is only on duty Monday thru Friday 9AM to Noon and 1PM to 5PM. Saturdays 9AM to Noon. If he isn’t there when you arrive, the dog is impounded at the airport until he returns. DON’T ARRIVE AFTER 5PM WEEKDAYS OR AFTER NOON SATURDAYS OR ANY TIME SUNDAYS. Unless, of course the thought of Fido in a box in an un-airconditioned cargo storage area doesn’t freak you.
These are the rules and they bend them like never. Mike You skipped a step (IF the person inquiring is from the USA). That step is this: After your vet signs the certificate, it must
be “certified” by the USDA. Thee are offices all over the US. It is the doubly certified certificate (certified by the vet AND by the USDA animal health office) that must be sent to the Panamanian consulate for “authentication.”
AND: If you want a “home quarantine” (you do) you must also send a letter TWO WEEKS before the animal arrives, to the Panama Dept of Health. I recommend using a “facilitator” for bringing in pets, we use Jose Saenz but there are others, someone named Tammy comes to
mind.
I have brought in 4 cats within the past few months so I know all this from experience. HOWEVER: Rules sometimes change so to be safe contact the local Panamanian consulate for any updates or changes to the requirements.
By Susan
We are going to Panama in less than 3 weeks with our 3 pets (1 dog, 2 cats) and none have had the rabies vaccine yet. We thought we could do all that in that 10 day window before arriving but I’ve seen in a few places where people say the vaccine has to be more that 30 days. Could someone verify whether we’ll have issues with this? -Thanks
When I did it in Texas in 2003, the vaccinations had to be over 30 days prior and the paperwork had to be done in the 10 day window. Texas also had a list of authorized vets that had to be used.
My family and I are considering moving to Panama within 8 months to a year from now. We will be brining our 5 cats. First is there a limit on how many animals *pets* you can have or bring with you? And second has any brought their horses with them and is the process the same as for cats and dogs?
No limits as far as I know. Met a man who was riding to Alaska who had two horses and a dog.
http://www.transhumanica.de/
Don’t know about larger animals, but dogs and cats are well written about on the Internet.